The background art shows a variety of squeegee structures as well as parts formed of extruded dual durometer plastic.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,765 issued to Norman C. Jackson on Feb. 19, 1980, is disclosed a rubber edged sealing member made of polyvinyl chloride having a hard rubber sealing portion and a softer gripping portion with gripping fingers made of a material softer than polyvinyl chloride. The sealing strips disclosed in Jackson may be made in an extrusion process whereby a strip is extruded about a metal stiffening member with two different durometer hardnesses extruded into a single sealing piece.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,591 issued to Frank S. Soito on Oct. 23, 1973, discloses a structure for a squeegee having a tubular handle portion and a squeegee blade which is made of two components. The squeegee blade has a flexible floor contacting component made of rubber or neoprene, which has a uniform cross section across the squeegee width and a stiffening member disposed within the spine of the blade to provide stiffness to the blade. In this structure, the blade is generally flexible to conform to the floor surface being squeegeed and the stiffening rod in the spine of the squeegee blade creates a laterally stiff blade with which to move water.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,081 issued to Roland E. Pullan on Nov. 4, 1980 is disclosed a sealing strip made of dual durometer plastic which has different hardnesses to form a weatherproof seal around a door. The sealing strip is an extruded portion having a U-shaped body extruded over a semirigid carrier. Simultaneously are extruded flexible gripper fins, made of softer material, which sealingly grip around the planar portion of a flange to which the sealing strip is applied. The main body of the sealing strip is made of hard polyvinyl chloride and soft polyvinyl chloride is used on the gripper fins which deform around the planar member to form a watertight stripping seal.
The prior art shows squeegee structures and sealing strips made of dual durometer polyvinyl chloride, but no squeegee structure is taught having a blade which is made of dual durometer material to form a stiff spine and a flexible blade for conforming to a floor surface for pushing water across the surface without additional components.